Protector
by Gentle Breezes
Summary: Torn, as a member of the Underground, has to protect many things. His comrades, his leader, his location. What he didn't count on, though, was having to rescue kids from their fears. One-shot, no pairings.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Jak games, nor do I own the characters in said games.

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><p>"...Torn?"<p>

He doesn't turn around to face the soft, wavering voice coming from the doorway behind him, nor does he stop working, though he does sit up a fraction more than he was before. He listens to small footsteps coming closer and closer until they stop at the side of his desk. Lifting his gaze from his papers for just a moment, he sees a young girl standing to his left with big, sad blue eyes.

"What is it Tess," he muttered neutrally, taking a piece of paper from the pile in front of him.

"Um...I can't sleep."

He blinks once, sighing a little though not in an exaggerated way. This has been happening a little more often lately. He'll be working at his desk, in the zone and ignoring everything else so that he can get things done, absorbed in his job with the relief that nothing can disturb him at this hour. And then there will be that small voice, followed by the appearance of the fifteen-year-old with blonde hair, blanket clutched around her like a lifeline, a face full of fear that shouldn't have a place in someone so young.

He finally turned to face her and leaned against the back his chair, crossing his arms. He doesn't even know _why_ she bothers coming to him first whenever she can't sleep. What will usually go down on these nights is she'll sit next to him as he's working, talking out loud about anything that comes across her mind. He'll comment once in a while whenever it seems like she thinks he's not listening, occasionally swapping the silence for a minor sentence. There was also that one time that he shared some battle stories with her, but he doesn't like telling those because most of them are from when he was in the KG.

He's extremely busy, and he can automatically think of at least 6 other people who would do a better job of comforting her. Kids who needed advice for combat or who needed help putting something together was one thing. Kids who were crying or scared was quite another, and not an area in which he was an expert.

Tess had been in the Underground for just a few months now. She had been in an orphanage for 2 years before then, stuck with a bunch of other children who came from the place now known as "Dead Town". Finding the Underground was actually a mix of luck and genius on her part. She proved to have quite an ear for information, her innocent appearance belying a cunning that she put to good use when the time called for it. Aside from the almost tearful "I have nowhere to go" phrase, this was what made Torn let her join. At the time he hadn't been extremely busy, so he took it upon himself to make sure she stayed out of trouble, teaching her the basics of the Underground. After the first 2 months of her stay, he expected her to make at friends her age to stick to and leave him be. But she didn't. She kept coming to him often, following him around the small base and asking him questions or helping him with errands. At first the reason for this behavior eluded him, but he eventually figure out that it was because he was the closest thing to family she had now. He'd been the one to accept her into the Underground, and the first one to help take care of her when she came. It's probably why she asked him of all people to teach her how to use a gun, even though he was known to be a slave driver when it came to lessons. And she would often look up at him in a way that reminded him of the little sister he once had, watching him for what he would do next because it was sure to be amazing, doing her best in even the simplest of things to make him proud.

Maybe that was also the reason why he let her stay around him, even if it got annoying most of the time.

"And what can I do about it?" he said evenly. His words are not helping, stinging from his lack of sleep and patience, but he doesn't know what else to say and frankly he doesn't care. Maybe this time she'll finally come to her senses and realize that he sucks at this sort of thing so she can go find someone else.

"Well..." she began, toying with the edge of her blanket, "could you keep me company?" He raised an eyebrow as if to ask _really_. This had not been the first time this had happened, but he didn't exactly want this to be a recurring thing.

"There are also other kids who can't sleep," she added. "We've been up for a few hours now. Everyone is scared."

He continued to keep his eyebrow raised, narrowing his eyes a bit.

"One of the women in the back can help you out," he eventually said flatly, starting to turn back around in his seat. That is, until he felt her small hands grip the fabric of his sleeve. And again with the big, sad eyes. Even he, the co-leader of the Underground, could be powerless against those puppy eyes if he looked at them long enough.

When she didn't say a word, fear still on her face, he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment. "What are you so afraid of anyway?" he asked, annoyance barely creeping into his tone. "No one's gonna get to you guys here."

"You don't know that," she said back.

"We have people who are patrolling the place, and they are experts. Now go to sleep."

"But we're in a room with windows!"

"The whole point of sticking you kids up there was so you could have a view of the sky, that way you wouldn't have a hard time sleeping! Haven't you tried counting the stars or looking at the clouds or something?"

"That's not the point!" she said, not shouting but her voice suggesting he didn't comprehend the situation.

"What _is_ the point?" he asked, resting his arm on the desk as he looked at her incredulously, his sleeve still in her grasp.

"The point is that things can get in through the _windows_," she said, a little fearfully. "W-What if the metal heads finds out we're here, and, and…break the windows and attack us? We're not in a bunker, so it would be easy for them to find us!"

He just stared at her, unsure whether to be angry or not. He took a breath to say something, but then just let it out and stood up abruptly, eyes momentarily closing in exasperation. "Fine, fine! I'll come."

And just like that, she smiled, fear no longer in her eyes. His eyes almost widened in surprise as he noticed this.

"Okay! Follow me!"

Grabbing one of his scarred hands with both of hers, she dragged him down the hall and up the stairs to where she and the other young people shared a room. He followed her halfheartedly, hence the dragging, but he didn't exactly go there against his will. Even he had room for sympathy sometimes.

She let go of his hand for a moment to open the door to the room, and then practically yanked him inside, a slight noise of protest escaping his mouth as this happened.

"See, I told you he would come!" he heard her say into the darkness, no doubt with a grin on her face. The silhouettes of about 8 heads popped up against the light coming in from the window, and he heard a chorus of groans.

"Aw Tess, why did you bring him here?" one of the voices rasped.

"You could have brought anyone else _but_ him," another said groggily.

"At least get one of the women to help you out…" a third said, followed by a large yawn.

In the darkness he glared at them, but unfortunately he could not be seen.

"That's mean!" she said back evidently displeased. "Besides, you guys couldn't sleep anyway!" The group addressed moaned in slight displeasure. When no one else spoke, she dragged him toward a chair near the corner. As he came closer to the chair, he heard a very faint sobbing.

His eyes had adjusted to the darkness now, and he looked down to see Tess let go of his hand and walk to the second bed to his left. She placed her hand on a mound of sheets and spoke in a happy tone. "Hey...Torn is here. It's okay to come out now."

The soft sobbing stopped after a moment, and a head slowly poked out from underneath the covers. Judging by the kid's appearance, it was one of the little girls the team had found a few weeks ago.

"...See?" Tess said, motioning the kid to look up at Torn.

"Uh...hey," he said awkwardly. Behind him, he had no doubts the kids were rolling their eyes.

"Commander, you won't let any metal heads attack us, right?" the little girl said.

Not seen by any, he shook his head slightly with disbelieve. So this is what he'd been reduced to: a guy who came and saved kids from their nightmares.

He sighed. "No, I won't," he said as he sank down into the chair. The sound of sheets filled the room as everyone lay back down to sleep, and Tess sank into her own bed next to the little girl's.

"Hey Captain?" one of the boys said. He grimaced. They had so many names for him.

"Hm?" Torn said, crossing his arms a bit.

"The KG can't find us up here, can they?"

What, first metal heads and now this? "No, they can't," he said mildly.

"...Are you sure? I've heard stories about how they can climb up walls, almost like metal heads can."

"You idiot," another boy said sleepily. "KG soldiers can't climb walls."

"They can! I heard they have some type of new device out!"

"Either that or they'd grapple hook their way in," another kid said.

"I heard that they don't let anyone live if they find a resistance," the little girl said, curling into a ball.

His eyebrows furrowed as he listened to these kids go on. Really, where did they get all this from?

Hmph. That was a stupid question. The truth was that although some of the things they were talking about now had not happened to them, they might as well have. He could hear the terror from the days before they came here catching up with their voices now.

"That's enough!" he said, almost shouting, and everybody went silent. He sighed, standing up. "Now all of you listen. This place has been running for a few years now, ever since before I came here. It's never been given away, tipped off, or found. And, I am in charge here, and I've never let a metal head or Krimson Guard get even _close_ enough to be able to shoot me or my fellow soldiers. No one is coming to get _anyone_ here, is that understood?" he said sternly. Silence. He took that as a yes. For some reason, although the kids looked a little unnerved, they seemed relieved as well. "Now go to sleep. No one's getting in here on my watch."

He picked up the chair and plunked it down in the middle of the room, making sure they saw that he had his guns with him. One by one, the kids within view lay down and closed their eyes, though he was sure they were looking at him through squinted eyes. He just crossed his arms and looked out the window, mentally daring anything to come through the glass, because he would be ready.

After roughly an hour, the sounds of soft snoring could be heard. He was starting to feel sleepy himself, but stifled a yawn and leaned forward to rest his face against one of his hands. Annoying or not, these kids were his responsibility for the moment, and he wouldn't fail. He perked up a bit when he saw movement to his right, Tess walking up to him with a blanket in her hands.

"Oh, I thought you were asleep," she said.

"How can I sleep?" he muttered with slight annoyance. "I'm keeping watch, remember?"

Again, she smiled, holding out the blanket. "...Thanks Torn," she said, grinning. "You're the best."

He sighed, snatching the blanket lightly from her hands, which caused her to giggle a little. "...You're welcome," he muttered grudgingly. But even so, he cracked a smile.

These occurrences became the little legends of the Undergrounds. Whenever they did happen, the guard passing by on night duty would peek in every so often to see the commander sitting in the middle of the room, death-staring the windows from where he sat. And, if said guard looked long enough, they would see the commander's expression soften for a brief moment as he looked over the children sleeping before, a small smile on his lips.

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><p><strong>AN: **Sooo, I'm not sure where exactly this came from, but here it is. I actually think it's a rather cute idea, Torn and Tess having a sort of brother/sister thing going. I just hope I did this right. I tried to write this so that the brother/sister thing wasn't creepy or anything. I might just do a few more stories with these two.

This was sorta-kinda inspired by **Demyrie's **"Any Reason" story. 8D Forgive me if my writing is found...wanting. But that is exactly why I'd love to hear what you think of it! Nit-pick, complain about the length, tell me if the characters are out of character, et cetera. Bluh. Anyhow, thanks for reading!


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